– In new northeast Alberta district of Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul, the NDP has nominated Kari Whan as their candidate. Whan is a teacher at Cold Lake Elementary School and previously taught at Bonnyville Centralized High School.

– Heather Morigeau has been nominated as the Green Party candidate in the downtown district of Calgary-Buffalo. Morigeau is a founder of FoodScape Calgary. A nomination meeting is scheduled for January 29, 2019.

– United Way of Calgary and Area manager Cesar Cela is seeking the NDP nomination in Calgary-East. A nomination meeting is scheduled for February 16, 2019. The district currently represented by NDP-turned-Independent MLA Robyn Luff. who has announced she will not seek re-election.

– NDP MLA Chris Nielsen is seeking his party’s nomination for re-election in Edmonton-Decore. Nielsen was first elected in 2015, earning 67.9 percent of the vote. A nomination meeting has been scheduled for February 19, 2019.

– Ronald Malowany has been nominated as the Alberta Advantage Party candidate in Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville. Malowany is the northern provincial director for the party.

Devon Hargreaves

– HIV North executive director Melissa Byers and local Fire Captain Todd Russell are seeking the NDP nomination in Grande Prairie. Russell was the NDP candidate in Grande Prairie-Smoky in the 2015 election, earning 31.1 percent of the vote and placing 334 votes behind then-Wildrose Party candidate Todd Loewen. Loewen is now seeking re-election as a United Conservative Party candidate in the new Central Peace-Notley district where he will face NDP MLA and Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd.

– Sherry Greene has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate in Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin. Greene is a member of the Samson Cree First Nation and a First Nations governance expert. She made headlines in 2017 when she lead a fight for more financial accountability, transparency and consultation with membership at Samson Cree.

– Matthew Powell is seeking the Freedom Conservative Party nomination in Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright.

If you know any candidates who have announced their intentions to stand for party nominations, please send me an email at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. I will add them to the list. Thank you!

New Democratic Party MLA Nicole Goehring was nominated as her party’s candidate in Edmonton-Castle Downs, a district she has represented since 2015. Goehring won her first election with 64.5 percent of the vote, unseating four-term Progressive Conservative MLA and former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk. Since her election, Goehring has served as the Government of Alberta’s Liaison to the Canadian Armed Forces and as chairperson of the Standing Committee on Families and Communities.

Calgary-Bow – NDP MLA Deborah Drever is expected to be nominated as her party’s candidate at a selection meeting on January 26, 2019. Drever was first elected in 2015 and faced considerable backlash from her political opponents when it was discovered she had made controversial posts on social media. She redeemed herself as a well-spoken representative and shepherded her first private members’ bill – Bill 204 – to unanimous approval in the Legislature in 2015. She rejoined the NDP caucus shortly after that.

Calgary-Currie – Joshua Codd has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate in this southwest Calgary district. Codd is currently a Constituency Assistant for Calgary-Mountain View Liberal MLA David Swann.

Calgary-Shaw – MLA Graham Sucha is expected to be nominated as the NDP candidate in this district on January 27, 2019. Sucha was elected as the MLA for this district in 2015, earning 31.3 percent of the vote ahead of PC MLA Jeff Wilsonwith 30.7 percent and Wildroser Brad Leishman with 30.4 percent.

Drayton Valley-Devon – Steve Goodman is seeking the Freedom Conservative Party nomination. Goodman is a Senior Community Peace Officer with Brazeau County.

Edmonton-Ellerslie – Richard Corbin and Todd Ross appear to have withdrawn from the Alberta Party nomination contest days after another candidate, Chuck McKenna, also withdrew. The Alberta Party briefly posted a tweet congratulating Corbin on becoming the party’s candidate in the district but that tweet appears to have been removed.

Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville – Rebecca Trotter is the Green Party candidate in this district east of Edmonton. Trotter is the President of RM Trotter Management Incorporated and a Sergeant at Arms for Rotary International

West Yellowhead – Zack Seizmagraff is the Liberal Party candidate in this district. Seizmagraff was the federal Liberal Party candidate in Yellowhead in the 2011 election, earning 2.87 percent of the vote.

Who is the mystery UCP star candidate in Red Deer-South?

Red Deer-South

To the chagrin of local members, the UCP announced in early December that the party was delaying the selection meeting in Red Deer-South until 2019 in order to give time for a “high profile individual” run join the contest. The local UCP association is organizing an all-candidates forum on January 31, 2019, and only the original four candidates contesting the nomination, the true identity of the unnamed star candidate remains a mystery.

The UCP has now scheduled nomination meetings in Lethbridge-East and Calgary-North to take place on February 9, 2019. I will post a preview of these contests next week.

If you know any candidates who have announced their intentions to stand for party nominations, please send me an email at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. I will add them to the list. Thank you!

Former local party local president RJ Sigurdson defeated incumbent MLA Wayne Anderson and two other challengers to secure the United Conseravative Party nomination in Highwood on October 16, 2018. Sigurdson previously served as the local constituency president for the UCP and PC Party in the district south of Calgary.

Wayne Anderson

Anderson faced a nomination challenge from Sigurdson, Carrie Fischer, a former Okotoks town councillor and mayoral candidate who ran for the PC Party against Anderson in 2015, and former Wildrose and PC Party activist Dean Leask.

Sigurdson had been endorsed by from former Highwood PC MLA George Groeneveld, former Okotoks mayor Bill McAlpine, and former PC MP Doug Fee.

Anderson was first elected in 2015 as Wildrose Party candidate and currently serves as the UCP Advanced Education critic. He is the second UCP MLA to lose the party’s nomination to run in the next election. Rancher and political party scion Nate Horner defeated two-term MLA Rick Strankman in Drumheller-Stettler UCP nomination contest earlier this month.

Anju Sharma is expected to be acclaimed as the Alberta Party candidate after two other candidates, James Moore and Walter Espinoza, withdrew from the contest.Abdi Bakal is also expected to be acclaimed as the Liberal Party candidate in this district on October 17, 2018. The district is currently represented by New Democratic Party MLA Christina Gray.

October 18, 2018 – Calgary-Elbow NDP

Janet Eremenko is expected to be acclaimed as the NDP candidate. Eremenko was a candidate for Calgary City Council in Ward 11 in the October 2017 election where she finished third with 20 percent of the vote. The district is currently represented by Alberta Party MLA Greg Clark.

October 18 & 20, 2018 – Airdrie-Cochrane UCP

Five candidates are seeking the UCP nomination in this district northwest of Calgary: Ian Chitwood, Peter Guthrie, Morgan Nagel, Mauri Stiff, and Laura Talsma.

Chitwood is director of the Alberta Canola Producers Commission. Guthrie is a former owner of a Mr. Lube franchise in north east Calgary and a former co-owner of a ranch near Castor. Nagel is a Cochrane town councillor and previously worked as a organizer for Jason Kenney’s leadership campaign and the Manning Centre. Talsma is a Registered Nurse at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre and Bethany Cochrane Long Term Care facility in Calgary.

Peter Guthrie is endorsed by former sportscaster and recent Airdrie-East UCP nomination candidate Roger Millions and former Rocky View County councillor and Calgary-Centre MP Eric Lowther. Nagel has the endorsements of Cochrane town councillors Alex Reed and Patrick Wilson. Stiff has been endorsed by Airdrie UCP MLA Angela Pitt, who is running for re-election in the neighbouring Airdrie-East district. Talsma is endorsed by UCP MLA Jason Nixon and brief UCP leadership candidate Jeff Callaway.

Leisheman and Redekop have endorsed the right-wing Parents for Choice in Education group, and Mantei appears to have the support of the right-wing Progressive Group for Independent Business through the group’s president Sid Helischauer and PGIB-backed Calgary-Peigan candidate Tanya Fir, and UCP MLA Tany Yao. Rebecca Schultz is endorsed by Member of Parliament Stephanie Kusie, UCP MLAs Nathan Cooper and Jason Nixon and former Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall.

Calgary-Shaw is currently represented by NDP MLA Graham Sucha and was previously represented by Wildrose-turned-PC MLA Jeff Wilson from 2012 to 2015.

October 20, 2018 – Calgary-Varsity NDP

NDP stalwart Anne McGrath is expected to be acclaimed as her party’s candidate in this redrawn district. McGrath returned to Alberta from Ottawa in 2015 to serve as Principal Secretary in the Premier’s Office in Edmonton and then moved to Calgary to serve as Executive Director of the Premier’s Southern Alberta Office at the McDougall Centre.

Two current MLAs, Stephanie McLean and Michael Connolly, and one other candidate, Julia Hayter, have withdrawn from the contest in this district. Hayter is now running for the NDP nomination in Calgary-Edgemont.

The Alberta Party has announced that Abigail Douglass will be their candidate in the upcoming Innisfail-Sylvan Lake by-election. A party press release states that Douglass grew up on her family’s farm near Penhold and attended Gateway Christian School in Red Deer. She attended King’s University in Edmonton and served two-terms as president of the students’ association. She earned a Bachelor of Commerce Degree at King’s.

The New Democratic Party is expected to nominate Nicole Mooney as their candidate at a nomination meeting on May 25, 2018. Mooney lives in Sylvan Lake and teaches English at St. Joseph’s High School in Red Deer. She is the Communications and Political Engagement Officer with Alberta Teachers’ Association Local 80.

NDP MLA David Eggen seeking the NDP nomination in Edmonton-North West. Eggen is currently serving his third-term as an MLA for Edmonton-Calder. Once again, the Poland of Alberta’s electoral map, Edmonton-Calder will be renamed Edmonton-North West as large swaths of the former district will become part of Edmonton-City Centre, Edmonton-Glenora and Edmonton-West Henday.

United Conservative Party MLA Prasad Panda is seeking his party’s nomination for re-election in the new Calgary- Edgemont district. Panda was first elected in a 2015 by-election in Calgary-Foothills. He was the 2012 and 2015 Wildrose Party candidate in the neighbouring Calgary-Northern Hills district.

NDP MLA Graham Sucha is seeking his party’s nomination in Calgary-Shaw. Sucha was elected as the MLA for this district in 2015, earning 31.3 percent of the vote ahead of PC MLA Jeff Wilson with 30.7 percent and Widlroser Brad Leishman with 30.4 percent.

UCP MLA Wayne Anderson has announced he is seeking his party’s nomination in the Highwood district. Anderson was first elected as a Wildrose Party MLA in the district in 2015 with 41 percent of the vote. Changes to the electoral boundaries have moved the Town of High River into the neighbouring Livingstone-Macleod district. This district was previously represented by former Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith from 2012 to 2015.

Former Alberta Party leader Greg Clark has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate Calgary-Elbow. Clark became the Alberta Party’s first elected MLA in 2015 when he was elected with 42 percent of the vote.

Here are some of the other updates to the growing list of candidates running for party nominations ahead of Alberta’s expected 2019 provincial general election:

Banff-Kananaskis – According to Elections Alberta, restauranteur Scott Winograd has withdrawn from the UCP nomination in this district.

Calgary-Buffalo – Omar Masood has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate in the newly redrawn Calgary-Buffalo district. Masood was the first candidate nominated to run in the 2019 election when he was nominated to run under the currently existing boundaries in November 2016.

Calgary-Glenmore – Michael LaBerge is the fifth candidate to enter the UCP nomination contest in this southwest Calgary district. LaBerge is president of Channel Energy Inc.

Calgary-Mountain View – Jeremy Wong is seeking the UCP nomination. Wong is a pastor with the Calgary Chinese Alliance Church and recently completed a Master of Public Administration at the University of Calgary.

Calgary-North East – Anand Chetty is seeking the UCP nomination. Chetty is the owner of Calgary Rocky Tours.

Calgary-North West – Cam Khan is seeking the UCP nomination.

Calgary-Varsity – Lesley Doell has withdrawn her candidacy for the UCP nomination in Calgary-North West and is now running for the UCP nomination in the neighbouring Calgary-Varsity district.

Chestermere-Strathmore – David Campbell will challenge Chestermere-Rockyview MLA Leela Aheer for the UCP nomination in this new district.

Drayton Valley-Devon – Kieran Quirke is seeking the NDP nomination. He is the Chair of the Leduc-Nisku Economic Development Board and co-chair of the Alberta NDP Rural Caucus. The NDP have scheduled a nomination meeting to take place on June 23, 2018. Also, Andrew Boitchenko challenging incumbent MLA Mark Smith for the UCP nomination.

Edmonton-Gold Bar – Former PC MLA David Dorward is seeking the UCP nomination. Dorward served as MLA for this district from 2012 until 2015 when he was unseated by New Democrat candidate Marlin Schmidt. Diana Ly is seeking the Alberta Party nomination.

Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood – Tish Prouse is seeking the Alberta Party nomination. Prouse was a candidate for Edmonton City Council in Ward 7 in 2013 and Ward 6 in 2017. Michael Kalyn is seeking the UCP nomination.

Grande Prairie – Tracy Allard is seeking the UCP nomination. Allard is the owner of several Tim Hortons franchaises.

Grande Prairie-Wapiti – Kate Potter is seeking the UCP nomination. She was first elected to the Town of Sexsmith Council in October 2017.

Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland – Everett Normandeau and Barbara Costache are seeking the UCP nomination. Normandeau is the owner of Summit Land and Environmental Inc. Costache is a Governor on the Board of Directors of the Lifesaving Society Alberta and Northwest Territories Branch.

Livingstone-Macleod – Roger Reid is seeking the UCP nomination. Reid is the owner of Tim Hortons franchises in Nanton and Clareshold and is chair of the Claresholm and District Health Foundation.

Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin – Donna Andres and Richard Wilson are seeking the UCP nomination. Andres served on Wetaskiwin City Council from 2001 to 2007.

Red Deer-South – Haley Wile is seeking the UCP nomination. She is a spokesperson fora supporter of the “non-partisan” pro-pipeline Rally 4 Resources group. Matt Chapin has withdrawn from the UCP nomination contest in this district and is instead seeking the UCP nomination in the neighbouring Red Deer-North,

If you know any candidates who have announced their intentions to stand for party nominations, please send me an email at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. I will add them to the list. Thank you!

Organized by the pro-pipeline Rally 4 Resources group, the event was promoted by both the NDP and UCP, and included speakers ranging from NDP cabinet minsters to UCP leader Jason Kenney to Edmonton mayor Don Iveson.

Despite the presence of senior NDP cabinet ministers and backbench MLAs, and two mass emails promoting the event sent by the NDP caucus, one from Municipal Affairs Minister Shaye Anderson and one from Calgary-Shaw MLA Graham Sucha, the crowd did not feel like an NDP friendly group. Or at least not any type of NDP-friendly group I would recognize.

Cries of “bullshit” could be heard as Economic Development and Trade Minister Deron Bilous spoke at the mic. The crowd booed, jeered and heckled federal Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi, a popular former Edmonton city councillor, as he spoke about the Trudeau government’s commitment to the pipeline expansion.

A small group can be heard on video trying to begin a chant of “NDP, NDP, NDP” as Kenney spoke, but it didn’t catch on.

While the rally was billed as a non-partisan event, it felt like the NDP showed up to a UCP rally, or at the very least an anti-NDP rally.

Premier Rachel Notley is on a roll as Alberta’s top pipeline champion, but this rally should give the NDP pause about whether hitching the final year of their first-term as government to the pipeline issue was a smart move.

As a government in Alberta, being anything but pro-pipeline is an almost impossible option. Support of the expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Pipeline in Alberta is likely somewhere near 98 percent (with a 2 percent margin of error) and I suspect many Albertans are becoming increasingly frustrated with pipeline opponents in British Columbia (where opposition to the pipeline is a valid mainstream opinion).

Supporting these rallies and escalating the war of words into drastic action against BC may play well with the Chambers of Commerce and certain Postmedia columnists, but it may fall flat among the supporters the NDP will need to activate and energize in the next 12 months.

Notley will meet with BC Premier John Horgan and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa next Sunday to discuss the pipeline dispute. If the meeting can deescalate or even resolve the pipeline dispute to end official political opposition to the pipeline in BC, then perhaps Notley’s gamble will pay off. But it not, then we may witness more pro-pipeline rallies with NDP cabinet ministers standing awkwardly in front of crowds of UCP supporters.

Calgary-North East – Nate Pike is seeking the Alberta Party nomination. Pike is a paramedic who works for Alberta Health Services.

Calgary-North West: Lesley Doell is seeking the United Conservative Party nomination. Doell is a French Immersion facilitator and instructional coach with the Foothills School Division and the former executive director of the French Language Resource Centre in Grande Prairie. She had been considered a potential candidate for the federal Conservative nomination in Calgary-Centre in 2019.

Calgary-Shaw – Mark Mantei is seeking the UCP nomination. He is an executive with a computer software and consulting company and previously served as the President of the Wildrose Party constituency association in this district. This district is currently represented by New Democratic Party MLA Graham Sucha.

Edmonton-Glenora – Sarah Hoffman is seeking the NDP nomination in this west-central Edmonton district. Hoffman was first elected as MLA for this district in 2015 with 68 percent of the vote, She previously served two terms on Edmonton’s Public School Board including as chair from 2012 to 2015. She has served as Minster of Health and Deputy Premier since 2015.

Edmonton-West Henday – Two candidates are seeking the UCP nomination in this new west Edmonton district. Nicole Williams is a senior associate with Canadian Strategy Group and previously worked as an assistant to various MLAs and cabinet ministers in the old Progressive Conservative government. Lance Coulter is a former assistant to Edmonton-Griesbach Member of Parliament Kerry Diotte and previously served in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville – Conservative partisan activist Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk is seeking the UCP nomination. Armstrong-Homeniuk currently serves on the local UCP association and previously served as the Regional Director for Central Northeast Alberta on the PC Party board of directors. This district is currently represented by NDP MLA Jessica Littlewood.

Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland – Jerry Molnar is seeking the UCP nomination in this newly redrawn district northwest of Edmonton.

St. Albert – Jeff Wedman is seeking the UCP nomination. Wedman is an officer with the Edmonton Police Service and is a retired Canadian Armed Forces pilot. He ran for the PC Party nomination in St. Albert ahead of the 2012 election. This district is currently represented by NDP MLA Marie Renaud, who is running for re-election.

Spruce Grove-Stony Plain – Dan Corbett is seeking the UCP nomination. He was briefly a candidate for the City of Spruce Grove mayoral election in 2017 but withdrew from the race before the election.

West Yellowhead – Town of Whitecourt mayor Maryann Chichak is seeking the UCP nomination in the newly redrawn West Yellowhead district, which now includes Whitecourt. Chichak was first elected as mayor in 2013 and was re-elected in 2017. She was the Wildrose Party candidate in the Whitecourt-Ste. Anne district in 2012, where she finished only 370 votes short of unseating PC MLA George VanderBurg. The West Yellowhead district is currently represented by NDP MLA Eric Rosendahl.

If you know any candidates who have announced their intentions to stand for party nominations, please send me an email at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. I will add them to the list.

The construction of a new cancer centre in Calgary was a big issue in the last election, so a recent comment by a United Conservative Party MLA Glenn van Dijken about the new Calgary Cancer Centre being a “fancy box” certainly gave van der Merwe some extra material to use while campaigning at the doors. But while health care is one of the issues he spoke most passionately about during our chat, jobs and the economy remain a top issue for many Calgary voters.

While the economy has stabilized since 2014 and is showing signs of growth, van der Merwe was honest about the slow recovery in Calgary.

“Officially, if you look at all the indicators the recession is over, but we are certainly empathetic to the fact that this has maybe not translated to families yet,” said van der Merwe. “People are hurting and we know there is still more work to do and that’s exactly why we have to continue.”

“I can tell you that families are very concerned about Mr. [Jason] Kenney’s 20 percent budget cuts and what that will mean in the economy alone – just ripping the bottom from under it,” said van der Merwe, echoing statements made by Premier Rachel Notley about the dangers of UCP budget cuts.

And on the NDP’s chances in a future election, van der Merwe believes that 2015 election was more than the “accident” that the NDP’s opponents tend to frame it as.

“I think people are underestimating what happened in 2015, thinking that it was purely a protest vote. And while there obviously was elements of that, I think it was a sign that Alberta has changed,” said van der Merwe. “And that is what we are finding in this race.”

“Mr. Kenney is out of touch with what Calgary wants. Not only is his social stance out of touch with the 21st century, period, but it’s out of touch with what Albertans and Calgarians want,” said van der Merwe.

Kenney and the UCP tied themselves in knots last month over the issue of Gay-Straight Alliances in Alberta schools, an issue the NDP were eager to let their opposition stumble over.

“Alberta is not the Alberta it was 20 years ago, and that’s a good thing.”

Green Party leader Romy Tittel released her party’s manifesto for democracy, which calls for the adoption of a Proportional Representation electoral system, the banning of all election donations and use of mass media for campaign communications, and the creation of citizen initiated legislation through online petitions.

All-Candidates Debate: The Calgary Leadership Forum is hosting an all-candidates debate for Calgary-Lougheed on December 10, 2017 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Braeside Community Hall (11024 Braeside Drive SW, Calgary).

For many decades, Alberta’s old Progressive Conservative government benefited greatly from large corporate donors which would help keep the governing party’s campaign war-chest flush with cash. It was well-known in Alberta political circles that the PC Party had the goal of always having enough money in their bank account to run two back-to-back election campaigns at any time. And usually they did.

Here are three changes that have been debated by the committee recently:

Rod Loyola

Reimbursements: A motion introduced by Edmonton-Ellerslie MLA Rod Loyola on August 10, 2016 recommended “that the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act be amended to provide for a rebate of 50 per cent of registered parties’ and registered candidates’ campaign expenditures provided that campaigns receive at least 10 per cent of the vote cast and file all required financial returns.” Similar subsidies exist in federal elections and in many other provinces.

I understand the arguments in favour of this policy, but unfortunately the NDP MLAs are not going into great lengths to explain them. I do not believe these types reimbursements actually “level the playing field,” as Mr. Loyola argued when he proposed the motion. These types of reimbursements reward candidates and parties that spend the most money, even if they lose the election. A very generous tax credit system already exists for individuals who donate to candidates and political parties, and in my opinion that should be sufficient.

If the MLAs truly want to level the playing field through a financial reimbursement program, they should study the funding system that existed federally between 2004 and 2015, which tied a financial reimbursement to political parties to the number of votes they earned in an election.

Graham Sucha

Spending Limits: Last week, I wrote about the committee’s recommendation to create campaign spending limits and I was pleased to see Calgary-Shaw MLA Graham Sucha have his original motion amended to raise to initial proposed limits (which I believed were too low). The new proposal would increase the limits per campaign to $70,000 for local campaigns and an $80,000 limit for four northern constituencies. Party province-wide campaign would be limited to spending $0.80 per eligible voter, which is similar to the limit that exists in Ontario.

I do believe it is arbitrary to simply name four constituencies as exemptions, as the province’s electoral boundaries will be redrawn before the next election and these four constituency may not exist in their current form when the next election is called. It might make more sense to create a formula based on population and geography to determine whether special exceptions are required for spending limits in northern and remote rural constituencies.

Chris Nielsen

Donation Limits: Currently, any individual can donate a maximum of $15,000 annually to a political party outside of election periods and $30,000 to a political party during election periods. A motion introduced by Edmonton-Decore MLA Chris Nielsen and amended by Bonnyville-ColdLake MLA Scott Cyr would lower financial contribution limits to $4,000 during election periods and $2,300 outside election periods.

The committee continues to meet this week, so I am anticipating there will be more to write about in the days to come.

At a recent meeting of the Special Select Ethics and Accountability Committee, Mr. Sucha proposed local candidate campaign spending be limited to $40,000 for most constituencies and $50,000 for larger northern constituencies and provincial campaigns limited to $1.6 million per party. There are currently no spending limits in Alberta and our province is currently the only province in Canada without spending limits.

Alberta voters swept out cash-flush Progressive Conservative candidates in favour of the cash-strapped New Democrats in 2015, but it has generally been the case in Alberta elections that the richest campaigns win on election day. The absence of spending limits has allowed PC candidates to wildly outspend their opposition during that party’s 44 years as government from 1971 to 2015.

In the 2015 election, a handful of PC candidates spent incredibly large sums of money on local campaigns – Edmonton-Whitemud candidate Stephen Mandel‘s campaign spent $132,991 and ended the campaign with a $135,974 surplus. Lowering the spending limits would prevent parties from using these large funds held in trust following the last election in that constituency in the next election (I would expect they would be transferred to other targeted constituencies).

Federal candidates in Alberta are limited to spending between $200,000 and $270,000 depending on the riding they are running for election in. As provincial constituencies in Alberta are considerably smaller than federal ridings, it is expected that any limits would be lower.

Back in February I proposed ten ways that the election process in Alberta could be improved, and spending limits was my third recommendation. While I do believe the spending limits Mr. Sucha has proposed may be too low, especially for the provincial parties, I do believe he is on the right track. There should be spending limits in Alberta elections.

The committee also debated a motion introduced by Edmonton-Decore NDP MLA Chris Nielsen and amended by Bonnyville-Cold Lake Wildrose MLA Scott Cyr that would lower financial contribution limits to $4,000 during election periods and $2,300 outside election periods. Albertans can currently donate $30,000 to political parties during election and by-election periods and $15,000 outside election and by-election periods.

The past few years in Alberta politics have reminded us that politics can be an extraordinarily unpredictable and forecasting the future can be a very tricky business for political pundits. Aside from the obvious choices of Premier Rachel Notley, Finance Minister Joe Ceci and Wildrose leader Brian Jean, here is a list of eleven Alberta MLAs worth watching in 2016.

Deron Bilous (Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview): As Economic Development and Trade Minister, Deron Bilous faces the challenge of proving the government’s job creation plan can work as the provincial economy faces declining international oil prices.

Greg Clark (Calgary-Elbow): As leader of the one MLA Alberta Party opposition, Greg Clark is punching above his weight in getting media attention and working hard to position himself as a moderate conservative alternative to the NDP and Wildrose Parties. He was also the only opposition MLA to propose an alternative budget and climate change plan in 2015.

Nathan Cooper (Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills): With a detailed knowledge of Assembly rules and procedure, Official Opposition House Leader Nathan Cooper will prove to be a valuable asset to the rookie Wildrose Caucus.

Deborah Drever (Calgary-Bow): Elected as a New Democrat and sent into legislative exile as an Independent after embarrassing social media posts were reported, she has been the target of relentless personal attacks by Wildrose MLAs and anonymous internet trolls. She has redeemed herself as a well-spoken representative and shepherded her first private members’ bill – Bill 204 – to unanimous approval in the Legislature. Expect Ms. Drever to be invited to rejoin the NDP caucus in 2016.

Derek Fildebrandt (Strathmore-Brooks): Probably the most high profile Wildrose MLA, Derek Fildebrandt is the loudest critic of the NDP government. But his hyper-partisan outbursts, including an embarassing fight with a Globe & Mail reporter and an angry tweet directed at the Assembly Speaker, are not necessarily the kind of attention his MLA colleagues are pleased to receive. Can he tone down the rhetoric and offer reasonable solutions and alternatives in 2016?

Sarah Hoffman (Edmonton-Glenora): As Health and Seniors Minister, Sarah Hoffman is well-spoken and smart as a fox. She can explain complex issues and spar with the opposition with ease. She is a contender for strongest member of Rachel Notley’s cabinet, and I place her in the “future Premier material” category.

Sandra Jansen (Calgary-North West): Sandra Jansen is the voice of the moderate wing of the Progressive Conservative Party. She has publicly clashed with interim leader Ric McIver over his decision to endorse the federal Conservatives, and with Wildrose supporters over her decision to endorse Liberal candidates in the 2015 federal election. Her record as a vocal opponent of a merger with the Wildrose would make her a candidate to watch in her party’s next leadership race.

Prasad Panda (Calgary-Foothills): When he won a Sept. 2015 by-election in Jim Prentice’s former constituency, he became the Wildrose Party’s only MLA from Calgary. He has been quite quiet since his win, but Mr. Panda’s performance as MLA over the coming years could determine how far his rural-based party might expand its presence in Alberta’s largest city.

Shannon Phillips(Lethbridge West): Smart, passionate and a fierce partisan, Shannon Phillips impressed many with her calm and cool delivery of Alberta’s climate change plan ahead of the Paris Climate Change conference in Nov. 2015. As Environment and Parks Minister, she helped bring together oil industry leaders and environmental groups to endorse the province’s plan. Selling the plan and its carbon tax to Albertans over the next year will be a serious test of Ms. Phillips’ political skills.

Richard Starke (Vermilion-Lloydminster): As a critic of Bill 6, Richard Starke took a more reasoned approach to criticizing the farm safety law and avoided the hysterical and negative reactions characteristic of his counterparts in the Official Opposition caucus. One of two remaining rural PC MLAs, he is said to be interested in making a bid for his party’s leadership.

The Under 30s: Another result of the massive turnover in the legislature last year was a significant drop in the average age of Alberta’s MLAs, from 53 to 40 years old. Among the newly elected younger MLAs are a handful who are under thirty-years old (including Ms. Drever, who is noted above).

While it is not uncommon to have one to two under-30s elected to the Assembly from time to time, I cannot remember a time when so many were elected at once. It is a refreshing change, as younger Albertans bring a very different perspective than the typical older, greyer elected representative.

I have made the following updates to the list of nominees and nomination candidates planning to run in Alberta’s next provincial election. Please email david.cournoyer [at] gmail.com if you have additions to the list. Thank you.

Calgary-Bow: Troy Millingtonannounced on Twitter that he will seek the Alberta Party nomination. Mr. Millington was the Alberta Party candidate in the 2014 Calgary-West by-election.

Calgary-Cross: Alyx Nanji has now declared his intentions to seek the PC nomination in this east Calgary constituency (he initially announced he would seek the PC nomination in Calgary-Bow). Mr. Nanji is a former staffer to PC MLA Ted Morton and recently completed a degree at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law. Also in Calgary-Cross, Ricardo Miranda will seek the New Democratic Party nomination scheduled for Feb. 21, 2015.

Cardston-Taber-Warner: Municipal District of Taber Reeve Brian Brewinis challenging Wildrose-turned-PC MLA Gary Bikman for the PC nomination. Mr. Brewin was first elected to Taber municipal council in 1998 and has been endorsed by Brooks Mayor Martin Shields (nominated federal Conservative candidate in Bow River) and former PC MLA Bob Bogle.

Former MLA Paul Hinman is said to be considering a run for the Wildrose nomination. Mr. Hinman was the MLA for this constituency from 2004 to 2008 and Calgary-Glenmore from 2009 to 2012.

Strathmore-Brooks: Former Canadian Taxpayers Federation lobbyist Derek Fildebrandt announced this week that he will run for the Wildrose Party in this southern rural constituency. Last year, Mr. Fildebrandt was rumoured to be eyeing the Wildrose nomination in Calgary-Bow. The constituency is currently represented by MLA Jason Hale, a former Wildrose MLA who crossed the floor to the Progressive Conservatives in December 2014. Update: Update: The Brooks Bulletin reports that County of Newell Reeve Molly Douglass will challenge Mr. Hale for the PC nomination.

Whitecourt-Ste. Anne: Oniel Carlier is seeking the NDP nomination scheduled for Feb 27, 2015. Carlier is a Regional Representative at Public Service Alliance of Canada.

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In addition, my thoughts and opinions change from time to time. I consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind. This blog is intended to provide a semi-permanent point in time snapshot and manifestation of the various ideas running around my brain, and as such any thoughts and opinions expressed within out-of-date posts may not the same, nor even similar, to those I may hold today.